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In the Classroom/En classe An EAP Course for Chinese MBA Students Patricia M. Raymond andMargaret Des Brisay This article describes an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course for Chinese Master ofBusinessAdministration (MBA) students. Unequal English language learning opportunities overseas means that manyotherwise excellent candidates are denied access to graduate programs at Canadian universities. Consequently, the Second Language Institute at the University of Ottawa decided to make ESL trainingestimates basedon scoresfrom the Canadian Test of English for Scholars and Trainees (CanTEST) for agroup ofChinese ap plicants to the University ofOttawa's MBA program. Thirty-four candidates participated in an innovative EAP course that combined teaching language, study, and acculturation skills, whereas some candidates were also required to complete240to480hoursofIntensiveFourSkillsEnglishbeforeundertakingthe EAP course. Successful completion ofthe EAP course constitutedfulfilling the requirementsforadmissionintotheMBA program. Teachingstafffrom boththe Faculty ofAdministration and the Second Language Institute provided input intotheEAPcourse. In recent years the massive expansion of international business has led to increasingnumbersofinternationalstudentstakingmaster'scoursesinbusi ness, finance, banking, and accounting. At the same time, unequal English languagelearningopportunitiesoverseasmeansthatmanyotherwiseexcel lentcandidates are denied access tosuchmaster's courses atCanadianuni versities. Universities are increasingly seeking ways to permit the gradual admission of international students who may not meet the English as a Second Language requirements when they initially apply. Such students maybeadmittedonconditionthattheytakeEnglishlanguageimprovement courses concurrentlywith their academic courses or on condition that they take a certain period of full-time ESL instruction before beginning their program. The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course implemented for a group of Chinese applicants to the Faculty of Administration's MBA pro gram is a discipline-specific (business) language course supporting an academic program Gohns & Dudley-Evans, 1991).1Itprovides 240hours of full-time specialized ESL instruction before the MBA. The development of theEAPcourseaswellas itsfollow-up aredescribedhere. TESLCANADAJOURNAUREVUETESLDUCANADA 89 VOL.17,NO.2,SPRING2000 Needs Analysis EAP students' needs generally fall into several areas: language skills, academicskills,andacculturationskillsaswellasimmediatesociallanguage needs(Stoller,1999). The language and academic skills to be taught in the EAP course were initiallyidentifiedbyconsultingthefollowingsources: TheAcademicAdministratorfortheMBAprogram(aChinesebilingual whoisagraduateoftheMBAprogram); • TheFacultyofAdministration'sMBAHandbookfor ageneraloverview oftheMBA,a IS-monthmodularprogramwithcoursesinboth commoncoreandspecialistsubjects; CurrentMBAcourseoutlinesobtainedfromprofessorsintheprogram. (Theseoutlinesincludecontent,objectives,readingmaterials, assignments,andmethodsofevaluation); CasestudiesandreportsproducedbyformerMBAstudents (onfile in theFaculty). Consultationofthesesourcesledtotheidentificationofthefollowingneeds: language skills (reading, business and academic vocabulary, speaking, lis tening, and writing); academicskills (note-taking, test-taking, and metacog nitive strategies for extensive reading); genres (production-based case studies, essay exam, surveys, memos, questionnaires, and comprehension basedbusinessreportsandjournals,articlesfromnewspapersrelatingtothe field ofbusiness,anduniversitytextbooks). Testingfor Language Proficiency Candidates for an MBA program with its high linguistic demands must possess an advanced levelofESL proficiency. Few are already at this level. TheCanadaTestofEnglishforScholarsandTrainees(CanTEST)waschosen todiagnoseproficiencylevelstomakeunconditionalandconditionaladmis sion decisions. The CanTEST measures listening, reading, writing, and speaking(optional)proficiency.CanTESTscoresarereportedasBandsfrom 1 to S, with most Canadian universities accepting an average of 4.5 as evidence of a level of proficiency adequate for full-time academic study. Normally CanTESTscores are used for making yes-noadmission decisions andnotformakingtrainingestimates.However,inthecourseofmonitoring the progress of Chinese students at the Canada China Language Centre in Beijing from 1984 to 1993, considerable CanTEST data had been collected, which facilitated the making of conditional as well as unconditional es timates(DesBrisay1992a,1992b). In the first half of 1998, 179 potential candidates for the MBA program were tested at several sites in China.2 On the basis of their test results, candidates were placed in four categories: A (no ESL required), B (EAP required),C (240 hours IntensiveFourSkills and EAPrequired),and D (480 90 PATRICIAM.RAYMONDandMARGARETDESBRISAY hours Intensive FourSkills and EAP required, seeAppendix A). In making our training estimates we kept in mind that individual gains following languageinstructioncanvarygreatly(DesBrisay&Ready,1991). TheChinesestudents wereallgraduates from fields suchas accounting, computerscience,commerce, and engineering. Becausefew had experience in business administration or related fields, it was assumed that they had little familiarity with business administration English. For these reasons it was decided to introduce content related largely to business theory and practice. The language and academic skills as well as the genres (for both comprehensionandproduction)required ofthesestudentswereusedasthe springboardforEAPcurriculumdesign. Acculturation Acculturationskillshelpstudents to understand thecultureoftheacademy and corresponding expectations (Stoller, 1999). Lunchtime conversation groups withlanguagemonitorsallowed thestudentstoexploresomeofthe cultural adjustments they would have tomake. (See timetable inAppendix B.) A Friday afternoon social program (cine-club, table sports) provided contentfordevelopingsociallanguageskills.Weeklymeetingswithateach er, the AcademicAdvisorfrom the Faculty ofAdministration, and the EAP programcoordinatorgave thestudentsthe opportunitytoexaminedifficul ties theywere experiencingwith theprogram. Team work, peerevaluation, libraryprocedures,and theacknowledgmentofsourcesintheirwrittenwork werestressedduringclass.(SeemodulesinAppendixC.)Allstudentshadto take a computer literacy course that provided an introduction to word processingande-mailaswellasexposuretovarioussoftwareprogramsthat thestudentscoulduseintheiracademicstudy. StudentPlacement Nineteen Level A students began their MBA program in September 1998. Fourteen Level C students arrived in October 1998 for their 240 hours of Intensive Four Skills training. Twenty Level Bstudents arrived in January 1999,atwhichtimetheyweregroupedwiththeLevelCstudentsfortheEAP course. (SeeEAPtimetable inAppendix B.) The directoroftheMBAcourse from the Faculty of Administration stipulated that all incoming MBA stu dents had to pass the EAP course in order to begin the MBA program on March8, 1999. EAP Course Thestudentsneeded toread a chapterormoreofasettextbookbeforeeach lecture ordiscussion group inordertofollow alecture ortoparticipateina discussion. They had to read articles from business journals and business reports in order to write summaries and critical analyses and to gather TESLCANADAJOURNAUREVUETESLDUCANADA 91 VOL.17,NO.2,SPRING2000 informationfor case studies and projects. Theywere required to participate in group and class discussions, conduct surveys and solicit the answers to questionnaires, and make oralpresentations.Theyneeded tolistentothree hour lectures and takenotes. Further, theyneeded towrite memos, reports, case studies, surveys, questionnaires, and essay exams. Their reading and writing skills, along with their ability to make oral presentations, were deemedthemostessentialfor theirsuccessinthe15-monthMBAprogram. Weeklyfeedback fromboththeLevelAstudentsalreadyintheMBAand theLevelCstudentsintheIntensiveFourSkillscourseguided theplanning and developmentofthe EAPcourse. Forexample, duringthe weeklymeet ings with the Academic Advisor, the EAP program coordinator, a teacher, and several student representatives, it came to light that Level A students perceived the amount of assigned reading in their MBA courses as a major difficulty. Therefore, reading would indeed have high priority in the EAP. Level C students in the Intensive Four Skills course appeared to have a strong grammatical foundation, but their oral skills were generally quite poor. Consequently, much practice would be needed in pronunciation and oralskillsintheEAP. AnimportantaspectintheplanninganddevelopmentoftheEAPcourse was theongoingneedsassessmentofbothgroupsofstudents,thosealready intheMBA(LevelA) andthosepreparingtoenter(LevelC). Inordertodeliverthe 240hoursofEAPtrainingrequiredforstudentsto be admittedintotheMBAbyMarch8,1999,aneight-week,32-hour-a-week schedule was drawn Up.3 (See EAP timetable in Appendix B.) Because the LevelCstudentshad alreadybeeninanIntensiveFourSkills format, itwas decided tomaintainthisfamiliar formatfor theEAPcourseinJanuary1999. The language and academic skills and genres identified above were presented in an academic context, with content mostly related to business theoryand practice.Theskillsweregroupedintosixmodules: 1. ReadingandWriting, 2. MemoandReportWriting, 3. OralCommunication, 4. Listening, 5. OralPresentation,and 6. Pronunciation. Asummaryofthesemodulesispresentedinchartform inAppendixC. Guestspeakersprovidedopportunitiesforgenuinecontent-arealistening with discipline-specific vocabulary, note-taking in real time, question periods, and interactionwith peoplefrom theOttawabusinesscommunity. These speakers included engineers from Nortel, business consultants, and financialplanners.Theyservedasmodelsinhowtostructureapresentation, use audiovisual aids, and handle questions from the floor. Clennell (1999) has argued that EAP courses need to focus on the interactive nature of 92 PATRICIAM.RAYMONDandMARGARETDESBRISAY spoken discourse. Through interactions with these speakers the students could observe a range ofverbaland nonverbalcommunicationstrategies as demonstratedintopic introductionsorclosures,timing,and thehandlingof interruptions. All these guestlecturers' presentations were videotaped and audiotaped (withpermission) foruseintheOralPresentationand Listening modules. Ongoingprogramassessmentand modificationwerecontinued through weekly meetings of educators and students. Any language, academic, or acculturation problems arising could then be dealt with immediately. For example,duringthesecondweekofEAPclassesthestudentsrequestedhelp with study reading skills. To this end Class Study time was provided. (See timetableinAppendixB.) MBA Project EAP Workbook TheMBAstudentsfrom Chinaweregraduatesofdifferentdisciplinesunre lated to business. Although these students were all at a high-intermediate level ofEnglishproficiency, theyhad no previous Westernbusiness experi ence. For this reason it was decided that the materials developer would produce an in-house MBA Project EAP Workbook with general business content. This workbook contains extracts from MBA course outlines and textbooks,newspaperarticlesrelated tobusinessandbusinessreports,allof whichareauthenticdata,4vocabularyexercises,text-typeexercisesfor read ing and writing, summary writing exercises, and some material for oral communication. Its activities are varied so that it can be used in the class room inconjunctionwith thesixmodules developed for the EAPcourse. A second reason for the workbook was concern that because of the intensive and accelerated nature of the EAP course, anyone textbook, business or otherwise,chosenattheoutsetofthecoursewouldsoonbecometoolimited forthestudents. Coordination andStaffing In order to minimize overlap in teaching, the six modules were double streamed. Stream 1contained Memo and Report Writing and Readingand Writing;andStream2includedOralCommunication,Listening,Pronuncia tion, and Oral Presentation. One teacher and one teaching assistant were assignedtoeachstream.(SeeEAPtimetableinAppendixB.)InJanuary1999, 34ChineseMBA students at Level Bwere placedin two groups of17. Thus eachgrouphad twoteachersand twoteachingassistants. Timetablingallowedbothgroupstoattendtheweeklyguestlecturesand to participate in the social program on Friday afternoons. There were final exams(inreading,writing,andlistening),afinalreport,andafinalpresenta tion. All the students passed all the modules of the EAP course and were acceptedintotheMBAonMarch8,1999. TESLCANADAJOURNAUREVUETESLDUCANADA 93 VOL.17,NO.2,SPRING2000 Follow-up Developments In April 1999 the Dean of the Faculty of Administration requested that a teacher who had taught the EAP course serve as a language advisor to the ChineseMBAstudents.Thisteacherwastospend25hoursperweekattend ing MBA lectures with the students and consulting with them after these lectures.Thematerialsdeveloperwaschosenbecauseofherfamiliarityboth s with the students and with the EAP course. Because these EAP students werenowfull-time graduatestudentsattheUniversityofOttawa,theywere eligible to take advanced-level, credit ESL courses at the Second Language Institute. Many enrolled in advanced ESL writing courses inMay and Sep tember1999andinJanuary2000.BoththeFacultyofAdministrationandthe SecondLanguageInstitutecontinueintheirsupportofthesestudents. Anecdotalevidencefromrecentmeetingswiththesestudentsrevealsthat those who tookthe EAPcourse (LevelB) feltmoreconfidentand motivated as students than those who went directly into the MBA (Level A) although thelatterhadahigherlevelofESLproficiency.InfacttheAgroupcontinued to have the edge as far as language is concerned but generally felt less prepared. The students who took the EAP seemed to have a headstart in developing the learning strategies and skills necessary in a Canadian university context as well as a feel for the underlying Western business cultureinwhichtheymightonedayhavetofunction. Researchisneededto examine this question. Data from a written questionnaire about the EAP program and its personal outcomes for the students are currently being collected. ThesecondcohortofChinese students atlevelCarrivedinJanuary2000 for their 240 hours ofIntensive Four Skills course. The EAPis scheduled to begininAprilinpreparationfortheMBAinJune2000. Conclusion Universities are increasinglyseekingways to permitthe gradualadmission ofinternationalstudentswhomaynotmeettheESLrequirementswhenthey first apply. The EAP business course for Chinese MBA students described heredemonstratesonewayofdoingthis. Thiscourseisdesignedtoprovide the needed specialized language skills, academic skills, and acculturation skillsforincomingMBAstudents.Italsorepresentsacollaborativeeffortby the Faculty of Administration and the Second Language Institute at the University of Ottawa to meet international students' needs in one of the fastestgrowingareasofEAPdevelopment:businessEnglish. Notes IJohns(1997)arguesthatEnglishforSpecificPurposesistheconventionaltermusedtodesignate specific purposes language programs in an English as a Foreign Language setting. In ESL 94 PATRICIAM.RAYMONDandMARGARETDESBRISAY settingsthetermEAPprevails.BecausetheuniversityofOttawaisanESLsettingthetermEAP isusedthroughoutthisarticle. 2LogisticspreventedtheoralcomponentofCanTESTfrombeingadministered. 3Thestudentsneeded timetoobtaintheirstudyvisasforCanadaandtheFacultyofAdminis trationassignedMarch8,1999astheiradmissiondeadline. 4St.John(1996)definesgenuinedataas"notwrittenforthepurposeofteachingnor..,vastly modified"(p.13). 5MaggieMaddencompiledtheMBAProjectEAPWorkbook.ShetaughtintheEAPprogram, attendedtheweeklymeetings,andservedasthepedagogicaladvisortotheMBAstudents. References Clennell,C.(1999).PromotingpragmaticawarenessandspokendiscourseskillswithEAP classes.ELTJournal,53(2),83-9l. DesBrisay,M.(1992a).TechnicalreportonCanTESTversionFforCIDA/St.Mary's.Unpublished researchreport.Halifax,NS:St.Mary'sUniversity. DesBrisay,M.(1992b).TechnicalreportonCanTESTversionGforCIDA/St.Mary's.Unpublished researchreport.Halifax,NS:St.Mary'sUniversity. DesBrisay,M.,&Ready,D.(1991).Defininganappropriateroleforlanguagetestsinintensive Englishlanguageprograms.InS.Anivan(Ed.),Issuesonlanguageprogramevaluationinthe 1990s(pp.15-25).Anthologyseries27.Singapore:SEAMEORegionalLanguageCentre (RELC). Dudley-Evans,T.,& St.John,M.(1998).DevelopmentsinEnglishforspecificpurposes. Cambridge,MA:CambridgeUniversityPress. Johns,A.M.(1997).Englishforspecificpurposesandcontent-basedinstruction:Whatisthe relationship?InM.A.Snow& D.M.Brinton(Eds.),Thecontent-basedclassroom(pp. 363-366).NewYork:Longman. Johns,A.M.,& Dudley-Evans,T.(1991).Englishforspecificpurposes:Internationalinscope, specificinpurpose.TESOLQuarterly,25,297-314. St.John,M.(1996).Businessisbooming:BusinessEnglishinthe1990s.EnglishforSpecific Purposes,15(1),3-18. Stoller,F.(1999).Timeforchange:AhybridcurriculumforEAPprograms.TESOLJournal, Spring,9-13. Appendix A University of Ottawa CanTEST Levels Required GroupA:Totalscoresof14ormoreon the threeskillstested No ESLrequired Students with these scores are normally admitted into the MBA program withoutbeingrequired to take additionalESLalthoughitshould be under stood that they will be minimally qualified. In most cases, they will not be handicappedinanyserious waybytheirlevelofEnglish. Becausespeaking proficiency was not tested, it may be that some would profit from an ad vancedspeakingorpronunciationcreditcourse. TESLCANADAJOURNAUREVUETESLDUCANADA 95 VOL.17,NO.2,SPRING2000 GroupB:Total scores between13.5and11.5 240hoursofEnglishfor AcademicPurposes (EAP) TheEAPcoursefocuses onimprovingreadingandwritingskillsand, where necessary, speaking skills, particularly pronunciation. Stronger students in this cohort might be allowed to audit courses in Administration as part of theirEAPprogram. Group C:Total scores between10and11 240hoursofIntensiveFour Skills plus the240hourEAPcourse These students need an upgrading in general English before taking the EnglishforAcademicPurposescourse. Group0: Total scoresbelow10 480hoursofIntensiveFour Skills plus the240hourEAPcourse These students need a minimum of480 hours of ESL before beginning the EnglishforAcademicPurposescourse. AppendixB EAP Course Timetable: January 11 to March 5,1999 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 8:30-10:00 Oral Readingand Memoand Oral Pronunciation Presentation Writing ReportWriting Communication Teacher1 Teacher1 Teacher2 Teacher2 Teacher1 10:00-11:30 Guestspeakers Readingand Memoand Listening(lab) OralPresentation Writing ReportWriting Teacher1 Teacher1 Teacher2 Teacher2 11:30-1:00 Lunch/ Lunch/ Lunch/ Lunch/ Lunch/ Conversation Conversation Conversation Conversation Conversation groups groups groups groups groups 1:00-2:30 Listening Memoand Studytime Readingand Socialprogram Teacher1 ReportWriting withTA2 Writing Teacher2 Teacher2 2:30-4:00 Readingand Listeninglabwith Oral Readingand Socialprogram Writing TA1 Communication Writing TA2 TA1 Teacher2 4:00-5:30 Studytime Oral Oral Weeklymeeting withTA2 Communication Communication until5:00 TA1 TA1until5:00 96 PATRICIAM.RAYMONDandMARGARETDESBRISAY Appendix C Summaryof EAP Modules Modules 1-3 Title ReadingandWriting MemoandReportWriting OralCommunication Hoursper 6Teacher 4.5Teacher 1.5Teacher Week 3TeachingAssistant 2TeachingAssistant 3.5TeachingAssistant Objectives Inreading: -toobserveconventionsof -topracticeparticipatinginand -toknowhowtoaccesslibrary layoutandorderingenres leadingdiscussions resources suchasmemos,executive -toputandrespondto -tounderstandcorebusiness reportsandlongerprojects questionsinformal vocabulary -toproducethecomponentsof discussions -tounderstandthemeaningof areport(executivesummary, -toparticipateindebates termsusedinexams, introduction, . . recommendafons mainbod -toconductoralinterviews, assignmentsandessay I, y, d t' . questions evaluationandconclusion) surveys,an queslonnalres _ _toacknowledgesourcesin -todeveloptechniquesof toanalyzetextcoherenceand .. ... conversationmanagement cohesion compilingbibliographiesand . , incorporatinggraphical -tobuildself-confidencein -torecognizeanauthors information abilitytounderstandandbe Message,Audienceand . .. understood Purpose(MAP,Dudley-Evans-toundertakeaninvestigation &SI.John,1998) ofabusinessrelatedtopic -todevelopanawarenessof . andtoproducea register -toudndertakeIndependent word-processedreportof stuY 2,500words InWrttlng: -toproducesummaries,short essays -toidentifyaudienceand purpose -towritegrammaticallycorrect sentences -toproducevarioustexttypes (e.g.,descriptionargument) -tolearnfromfeedbackfrom writtentasks TESLCANADAJOURNAUREVUETESLDUCANADA 97 VOL.17,NO.2,SPRING2000 Title ReadingandWriting MemoandReportWriting OralCommunication Hoursper 6Teacher 4.5Teacher 1.5Teacher Week 3TeachingAssistant 2TeachingAssistant 3.5TeachingAssistant Content! -genresillustratingtexttypes -academicandbusiness -formalvs.informal Materials takenfrombusiness reportsandmemoswith: expressions textbooksandjournals Title,contents - rulesofconversationsuchas -examplesofcohesive Executivesummary turn-taking,intervening devices/logicalconnectorsat Introduction(background, -discussionanddebate sentencelevelandbeyond aims,objectives,MOVES (Swales,1991) -fieldwork(conductingand -extralinguisticfeaturesof Recommendations recordinginterviews) writtendiscourse(color, Mainbody layout,illustrations) Conclusion(evaluation, -grammartopicssuchas speculation,references, determiners,passives,mode, bibliography,appendices) nominalizations -surveysandquestionnaires -authentictextsfrom -reportsandprojectsfrom newspapersandbusiness businessjournals1991) journals -guidelinesproducedby -textbooksinbusiness professorsintheFacultyof -administration Administration - MBAcourseoutlines Textbooks MBAProjectEAPWorkbook MBAProjectEAPWorkbook MBAProjectEAPWorkbook References TheLanguageofbusiness BusinessandAdministrative Speaking English:Grammarand CommunicationbyK.O.Locker, Effectively-Strategiesfor FunctionsanditsWorkbookby Irwin-McGrawHill,1998 AcademicInteractionbyJ. N.Brieger&S.Sweeney, Impact:AGuidetoBusiness KayfetzwithM.Smith,Heinle& Prentice-Hall,1994 CommunicationbyM.Northey, Heinle,1992 ReflectingonWriting: Prentice-Hall,1990 Reflections:Developing ComposinginEnglishforESL ProficiencyinEnglishbyP.M. StudentsinCanadabyE.Hall& Conway,Pippin,1995 C.S.Y.Jung,Harcourt·Brace, 1996 Evaluation 4writtenassignments60% minireport(1,000wds)20% debates30% mid-term15% 2memos(750wdseach)30% peerevaluation30% finalreadingexam10% finalreport(2,500words) fieldworkreports40% tinalwritingexam15% 50% 98 PATRICIAM.RAYMONDandMARGARETDESBRISAY